The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration announced the graduation today of 12
men and five women from the Basic Officer Training Class of the NOAA
Commissioned Officer Corps. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department
of Commerce.

New recruits must
have degrees in science, mathematics, or engineering before entering
basic officer training. NOAA Corps officers manage and operate the
agency’s fleet of 17 ships and 13 aircraft used to gather data
and conduct research in fulfillment of NOAA’s environmental
science mission. Officers also apply their technical, managerial and
operational skills to shoreside positions within NOAA program offices.

“I am delighted
to welcome these bright and inspired young officers into the ranks
of the NOAA Corps,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad
C. Lautenbacher Jr., Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans
and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “They have the education,
skill and motivation essential to support NOAA’s mission. We’re
very pleased that the members of this graduating class have chosen
to serve NOAA and the Department of Commerce, and look forward to
working with them as they contribute to the success of NOAA’s
programs.”

Today’s
graduation is the culmination of three months of intense training
at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. The officers
will soon begin their first assignments aboard NOAA research and survey
ships.

“As NOAA’s
capabilities in nautical charting and other strategic areas are called
upon by the Bush Administration to support homeland security, some
of these new officers will also have the opportunity to help assure
the safety of the nation as part of their regular duties,” Lautenbacher
said.

The NOAA Corps
is one of the nation’s seven uniformed services (the other services
are the four military services, Coast Guard and Public Health Service).

The Corps is extremely
effective in helping NOAA carry out its various missions, from nautical
charting, to fisheries and coastal research, to oceanographic research
and global climate change studies. Officers not only operate NOAA
ships and aircraft, but serve in land-based offices throughout the
country where they can apply their operational expertise and knowledge
of NOAA platform capabilities to program management and planning.

New NOAA Corps
recruits – who must have degrees in science, engineering or
mathematics – are sent to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to
learn ship management, bridge operations, radar plotting, navigation,
firefighting, service protocol, and other skills needed before they
begin tours aboard NOAA vessels as junior officers. Classroom lectures,
lab activities and demonstrations are combined with hands-on experience
aboard the Academy-owned ship, Kings Pointer, which is a sister ship
to three NOAA-owned vessels.

Each officer will
work with a senior officer on the bridge and begin specialized training
in hydrographic surveys, fishery research and trawling, or oceanic
and atmospheric research once assigned to a vessel for the first two-year
tour.

There are currently
276 officers in the Corps, including the 17 new graduates listed below:

ENS
Rebecca Almeida – Winter Park, Fla.

LT Joe Bishop – San Antonio, Texas

ENS Amy Cox – Southgate, Mich.

ENS Jonathan French – St. Petersburg, Fla.

ENS Michael Gonsalves – Billerica, Mass.

ENS Sam Greenaway – Oakland, Calif.

ENS Tracy Hamburger – Milwaukee, Wis.

LT Nathan Hancock – Gulf Shores, Ala.

ENS Lindsey Vandenberg – Morro Bay, Calif.

ENS Olivia Hauser – Montclair, N.J.

ENS Paul Hemmick – Newport Beach, Calif.

ENS Matthew Jaskoski – Kingsport, Tenn.

ENS Paul Kemp – Perry, Ga.

ENS Paul Kunicki – Pocatello, Idaho

ENS Stephen Kuzirian – Cranston, R.I.

ENS Dan Orr – McLean, Va.

ENS Tony Perry, III – Visalia, Calif

NOAA is dedicated
to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction
and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental
stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources.